Things to do this week: Feb 9-15

8 February, 2017

8 Min Read

The next seven days is a big one in Hong Kong for things to do. The international equestrian competition, the Longines Masters, gets underway while one of the biggest event’s on the city’s calendar takes place on Sunday – the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. For the less sports-minded, take your pick of comedy, concerts or a spot of Sunday market shopping.

Dance up a storm in the dark at No Lights No Lycra Movie Melodies night

Fans of No Lights No Lycra will love this week’s theme – Movie Melodies, where you can dance to all the best tunes from your favourite films. No Lights No Lycra is a fitness concept with the belief that everyone can dance. Once a week for an hour, a dance session is held in a dimly-lit room, allowing people to come along and dance for exercise or just for fun.

TakeOut Comedy Club, Asia’s first full-time comedy club, is presenting an All Stars Weekend show on Friday night which is perfect for those for whom comedy is one of their favourite things to do. Performers include Ryan Hynek, Pete Grella, Mike Harrington and Howard Ho. The event will be hosted by TakeOut Comedy founder, Jami Gong.

The Longines Masters of Hong Kong is an international indoor showjumping competition which will finish its journey in Hong Kong with a three-day event featuring some of the world’s best horses and riders. Organised by the Hong Kong Equestrian Foundation and the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the Masters includes social events and activities at the Prestige Village. Single tickets start at HK $250.

The LBC Valentine’s Race is a 13 km team trail race taking place on South Lantau Island. Each team must be made up of two members and teams must complete the whole trail together. There are three different categories: two male, two female or mixed teams of two.

Lee Tung Avenue is holding a Lantern Festival Wedding Bazaar during the Lantern Festival, offering a one-stop wedding planning service. The bazaar will feature selections of wedding rings, cakes, gifts and other wedding-related goods and services. There will also be a Chinese wedding gown fashion show.

The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is one of the signature sporting events in Hong Kong and a Gold Label Road Race event, which means it is one of the leading road races in the world. Organised by the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association, it drew 74,000 participants last year. Event registrations have closed but you can still attend to cheer on the runners and take in the spectacle of this huge annual event, with runners getting underway from as early as 5.45am.

Take the family out to the West Kowloon Cultural District for the Freespace Happening event. The fun-filled afternoon will see a host of activities to enjoy from music, to dance, to a spray paint workshop. Join Blank Once for a family-friendly meditation session or get answers to your questions from the The House of Hong Kong Literature’s fortune-telling poet. You can also enjoy a Nursery Park tour or browse the markets.

The February edition of Handmade Hong Kong‘s Discovery Bay Sunday Market is a DIY Indie Arts, Crafts and Small Traders’ Fair. Hong Kong’s finest makers and sellers will be offering arts, crafts and other special goods with about 140 different vendors taking part, attracting about 2000 visitors.

The AIA Great European Carnival has been a fixture of Central Harbourfront Event Space through winter but this much-loved family event is wrapping on 12 February. Don’t miss your last chance to enjoy all the favourite carnival rides and attractions.

The Kidsfest festival is also wrapping up this weekend. The final shows will see multi-award-winning performer and storyteller Danyah Miller vividly brings to life Why The Whales Came, another enchanting tale by Michael Morpurgo. Tickets start at HK$195.

US rockers JOURNEY are coming to Hong Kong, with one show only at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The band has created some of the best-known songs in modern music, led by their hit Don’t Stop Believin’.

Restaurants around Hong Kong are pulling out the stops to create memorable and romantic experiences for diners. Check out our round-up which features all sorts of options from casual dining to chic and exclusive for those couples who have been struck by Cupid’s arrow.

Join Stamford American School Hong Kong for one of their Open House events to meet superintendent Malcolm Kay over lunch or dinner to hear about Stamford’s vision for education. Families will also get an exclusive sneak peek at Stamford’s campus for children 5 to 18 years old, opening in Ho Man Tin, Kowloon in September 2017. The Open House will end with a Q&A session and the opportunity to speak to Stamford’s admissions team.

Chocoholics assemble for one of the sweetest things to do this month. The Harbour City Chocolate Trail features events including chocolate dessert making demonstrations and a food illustration exhibition by Taiwanese food illustrator Pei Pei. There will also be chocolate tasting and an auction of a chocolate sculpture charity sale. Kids will love the chance to ride on mini chocolate trucks as well as enjoy Gallery by the Harbour’s “I Love Donut” exhibition.

Australian artist Dale Frank is known for his work with unusual materials, using anything from varnish to glass to human hair. Pearl Lam Galleries is presenting a solo exhibition at the Pedder Building of 16 new works, all completed in 2016. His newest works demonstrate his commitment to pushing the boundaries with the use of unusual materials and the chemical and physical process of painting a canvas.

Get cultural when looking for things to do. Massimo De Carlo Gallery presents Between Utopia and Dystopia, its first group show of the year. Curated by independent curator and critic Manuela Lietti, the exhibition brings together works by six Chinese contemporary artists that explore the notion of landscape. Featured artists have roots in Mainland China – Jia Aili, Liu Xinyi, Meng Huang, Qiu Shihua, Wang Sishun, and Wang Zhongjie. The gallery is closed Sundays.

The work of one of Britain’s most celebrated living painters, Howard Hodgkin, is being presented by the Gagosian Gallery. The In The Pink exhibition will feature recent work by Hodgkin, who has a career spanning more than 50 years, in his first exhibition in Hong Kong. Completed between 2014 and 2016, the work will showcase his intimate oil on wood-panel paintings which convey the relationship between hand, eye, and memory that charges process, visual structure, and emotional temperature.